After Jiang Li went in, the detectives lying in ambush looked for an opportunity to follow. Jiang Li could protect herself, and with only one hostage, the situation looked promising.
"Have you detected any bombs in the area?" the criminal police captain asked the man behind him.
"Captain, we found them in the sewers. We’re dismantling them now."
The captain grunted in acknowledgment, his eyes fixed on the scene inside. "Move in the second you get a chance!"
"Yes, sir!"
Jiang Li knocked back the man blocking her way and bolted up the stairs.
"Jiang Li! Quick, get her!"
The men upstairs never expected Jiang Li to be completely unscathed, let alone make it up so quickly.
Jiang Li scanned her surroundings, found an opening, and kept running. ’They won’t dare shoot until I’ve met their leader.’
Seeing Jiang Li run past, one man pulled out his gun and aimed, only to be stopped by the man beside him.
"Are you crazy?! If you kill her now, we’ll be the ones paying with our lives!"
The man had no choice but to lower his weapon. He was about to give chase when a tranquilizer dart hit him. He collapsed before he could even take a step.
"Damn it!"
A few of the others sensed something was wrong. Just as they were about to warn the men upstairs, a series of quick *pffts* sounded, and they dropped to the ground in succession.
Shi Xingchao’s brow furrowed as he watched the scene unfold. He had always assumed Jiang Li only knew some clumsy, third-rate fighting moves.
His frown deepened as he watched the detectives infiltrate the building. At this rate, his plan was going to fail again.
Shi Xingchao watched the scene inside. ’No matter what, this time they’d better pay a heavy price.’
The leader on the fourth floor glanced at the police outside, then angrily grabbed a megaphone.
"Son of a bitch, you dared to trick me!"
Zhou Tiancheng and his team were completely stunned. They’d been watching the building the entire time, and the men on the lower floors hadn’t had time to send a warning. One second everything was normal; the next, the men upstairs somehow knew.
The leader squinted, his eyes darting around before a cold smirk appeared on his face. "Listen up, brothers! Even if we die today, we’re taking someone down with us!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Several gunshots echoed from inside. Jiang Li saw bullets strike the wall beside her. Her heart pounded as she gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep running upward.
Lu Xingye angrily slammed what he was holding onto the ground. ’Something’s not right. How could they possibly know what’s happening downstairs?’
’Someone here must have signaled them.’
"Brother Zhou, someone sent a signal."
Zhou Tiancheng nodded, his body tensing as he scanned the area, trying to figure out what it could have been.
’The abandoned building can’t have surveillance cameras, and we’ve already checked the surrounding area. There are no suspicious drones aside from ours.’
"We can’t rush this. The more we rush, the more chaotic it gets. Xingye, Zhao Shuo, come with me. Let’s review."
Zhou Tiancheng led Lu Xingye and Zhao Shuo behind a vehicle.
"When we first arrived, they didn’t make a move. It was as if they hadn’t noticed us."
"Our guys had just gone in and taken out two of them when the man in the tank top on the fourth floor started making demands. He had only one condition: for Jiang Li to come."
Zhou Tiancheng glanced at his watch. "That was at 3:30:50."
Lu Xingye crossed his arms. "They didn’t react when we first got here, but then they insisted on Jiang Li coming..."
"We already guessed they were using Shi Anno’s smartwatch to lure us here."
"They must have known we were coming, but they didn’t make a move when we arrived..."
Lu Xingye looked up. "It’s because their targets weren’t all here! They wanted to wait until everyone had arrived, but when Jiang Li didn’t show, they got impatient."
"They planted bombs everywhere to get revenge for Chen Sheng. That means we and Jiang Li are both targets!"
Zhao Shuo leaned in and whispered, "Didn’t we suspect Shi Xingchao before?"
"It’s 3:35. We notified Shi Xingchao at 3:00, and he arrived around 3:25."
"There are no communication logs, which means he used something else to signal them."
After speaking, Lu Xingye stepped out from behind the vehicle. He scanned the area around Shi Xingchao, and his gaze finally settled on his car.
A windshield wiper had just swiped down.
Lu Xingye’s eyes darted. "The car."
He pulled out his phone and brought up the surveillance footage he had saved, skipping to the time frame Zhou Tiancheng had mentioned.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Another volley of gunshots rang out. Lu Xingye’s palms grew sweaty with tension. He forced himself to ignore the chaos and focus.
3:29:30...
The answer was just moments away...
"Ah! Jiang Li!" Wu Ming shrieked in terror.
Lu Xingye snapped his head up. Jiang Li had reached the fourth floor and was now face-to-face with the kidnappers.
Her hand... was bleeding.
Lu Xingye took two steps forward, then stopped. With a trembling hand, he looked back down at the video on his phone, a bead of sweat from his forehead dripping onto the screen.
In the video, the car’s headlights flashed!
His hand shaking, he hit pause. 3:30:05.
"Brother Zhou, Brother Zhao, find an excuse to check Shi Xingchao’s car!" Lu Xingye shoved his phone at Zhao Shuo and turned his gaze back to the building.
Jiang Li was surrounded, several guns pointed right at her. Lu Xingye’s heart leaped into his throat.
’No matter how skilled she is, she can’t dodge that many bullets. And she’s already injured.’
Lu Xingye strode anxiously to the criminal police captain. "Captain Luo, I suggest we have the snipers take them out."
Luoyang looked up. "If we provoke the kidnappers..."
Lu Xingye’s face darkened. "Captain Luo, Shi Anno is the hostage, but don’t forget that Jiang Li is a civilian. She has no obligation to make any sacrifice."
Luoyang’s brow knitted tightly. "In this situation, if we make a move, neither the child nor Jiang Li will make it out alive."
"So what are you suggesting? That she should save herself? Do you think that’s even possible? Captain Luo, if you were in her shoes, could you do it?!"
Veins bulged on Lu Xingye’s forehead as he grabbed Luoyang by the collar.
"Lu Xingye, calm down!"
Another gunshot cracked the air. Lu Xingye didn’t even have the courage to turn and look. "Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm down? You guys are so damn incompetent, you should all be sent back to the academy for a do-over!"
"Xingye!" Hearing the commotion, Zhou Tiancheng rushed over to intervene.
Luoyang brushed off his collar. "Zhou Tiancheng, get your man under control."
Zhou Tiancheng held Lu Xingye back and stared at Luoyang. "Luoyang, is he wrong?"
With that, Zhou Tiancheng forcibly dragged Lu Xingye away.
Lu Xingye clenched his fists, watching the stalemate inside. They seemed to be talking, but he couldn’t hear what they were saying.
"Xingye, calm down. If we provoke the kidnappers, it’ll only put Jiang Li in more danger."
Zhou Tiancheng’s words were enough to make him shove his impulsive urges back down.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Just stand here and watch? We’re the police!"
Zhou Tiancheng pressed his lips together. If they had stuck to the original negotiation plan, they would have had at least a sixty percent chance of success.
Zhou Tiancheng picked up a megaphone. "Our vehicle is ready. We’ve also prepared two million in cash."
"Release the hostage, and we promise not to storm the building!"
Hearing Zhou Tiancheng’s voice from outside, Jiang Li looked up at the six men in front of her.
Shi Anno, who was still being held captive, was too terrified to speak.
"Let her go first. If anything happens to the hostage, you won’t be walking out of here."
"You’re here for me, right? Release her, and I’ll go with you."
The leader froze for a second. ’For her? Well, yes and no.’
Then, one of the men’s eyes lit up as he remembered something.
"Wang Laoer, don’t you remember? It’s her! It’s *her*!"
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